Real Estate Law Resources

Websites

General

• ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law – Links to member information, CLE courses, publications (e.g., Probate and Property Magazine), and other resources.
• Real Estate Transactions – Offers an overview of this area of law. Also links to federal and state statutes, important case law, and more.
• Real Estate Law – Dozens of annotated links to websites pertaining to property law, zoning, urban development, construction, real estate finance, and more.

Real estate finance

• Mortgate-Investments.com – 800+ pages of real estate and mortgage information. Includes forms, spreadsheets, mortgage calculators, and an extensive resources page.
• Yahoo! Real Estate – Search for lenders, realtors, home values, available properties, rentals, foreclosures, news headlines, and more. Includes national graphs of mortgage rates and market conditions. Also offers how-to guides and advice.
• Appraisal Institute – News, laws, regulations, learning resources, and other information about real estate valuation.

Land use

• Land Use Law Center – A project of Pace University Law School. Links to faculty publications, a land use library, a database of ordinances, zoning information, and more.
• Center for Urban Policy Research – Links to information on land use, community development, and transportation.

Owning & renting

• Rentlaw.com – Comprehensive information for landlords and tenants. Also has information on renter’s insurance, personal credit, commercial real estate, and more. Includes an eviction guide outlining the general eviction process followed by most states.
• Landlord.com – Do-it-yourself resources for landlords, including forms and checklists, articles, and laws for all 50 states.
• National Housing Law Project – National housing law and advocacy center. Links to resources on public housing, Section 8, HUD, tax credits, low-income buyers/renters, and more.
• HUD User – Offers in-depth analysis of U.S. housing policy, regulations, market conditions, and more. Over 1,000 publications and data sets available for download. Also offers a searchable bibliography of over 10,000 housing-related book and article citations.
• FEAR – Comprehensive site of asset forfeiture resources. Links to federal and state statutes, federal court cases, articles, legislation and lobbying, court news, and more.

Construction law

• Constructionrisk.com – Portal for construction risk management information, including articles, newsletters, and a topical directory. Also links to a directory of consultants, lawyers, and expert witnesses.

Blogs

• PropertyProf Blog – Member of the Law Professors Blog Network.
• Matrix – Ethics and issues in real estate appraisal.
• Other real estate blogs – List of real estate blogs, many specific to certain cities (e.g., New York, Chicago, San Francisco) or countries (e.g., Canada).

Associations & agencies

• Realtor.com – Official site of the National Association of Realtors.
• Mortgage Bankers Association of America – News, research, advocacy, publications, industry resources, and more.
• American Real Estate Society – Membership info, newsletters, and full-text journals published by the Society.
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Links to statutes, regulations, forms, handbooks, and other information on buying, selling, renting, foreclosure, home improvements, and more.
• Bureau of Land Management – Division of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Links to statutes and regulations, forms, studies, and more.

Journals, news & articles

• GlobeSt.com – Commercial real estate news source. Organizes coverage by city, region (e.g., Northwest, Southeast), or sector (e.g., capital markets, industrial, retail, office). Blogs and opinion pieces are available under Features.
• Realty Times – Real estate news network. Offers news articles and videos, consumer advice, and a daily market conditions report. Article archive goes back to January 1998.
• CNN Homes – Mortgage and real estate news from CNN.
• Legal Wiz – Over 100 free articles on real estate topics.

Research guides

• New York University – Real estate research guide.
• University of California at Berkeley
• Penn Libraries